Introducing a new queen bee can be ticklish enough – especially if she has spent a few days in the post and has gone off lay as a result. Here’s the best way to introduce a queen that’s been in the post. Continue reading Queen Bee Introduction – Postal Cage
Category Archives: Apideas
Queen bee Introduction – Apidea shuttle
Mostly Apideas are used to rear queens from queen cells. However, there are occasions when you may want to introduce a laying queen or a virgin into an established Apidea.
If you’ve got a postal cage – introducing a queen into an established Apidea is easy as falling off a log. Click here for how to use a postal cage to introduce a queen bee to an Apidea
If you haven’t got a postal cage – another simple way of introducing a queen to an Apidea is to make a queen shuttle. Read on: Continue reading Queen bee Introduction – Apidea shuttle
Queen Rearing – How to Graft
Grafting is often seen as highly technical and an unattainable skill. It shouldn’t be though – because it isn’t – it’s just practice and knack.
After all, the aim is simple enough: – to transfer a young larva from one cell to another. How difficult can it be?
To maximise success you need to sit down and think for a bit though. Consider how to choose your larvae, which grafting tool to use and how to set up your rearer colony. Then get stuck in – what’s to lose? Continue reading Queen Rearing – How to Graft
How to use your Jenter Kit
Once you have your Jenter Kit set up you are ready to put it into action. Click here if you need the Jenter Kit Set Up instructions Continue reading How to use your Jenter Kit
How to Introduce a queen bee to an Apidea
Mostly Apideas are used to rear queens from queen cells. However, there are occasions when you may want to introduce a laying queen or a virgin into an established Apidea.
Here’s a simple introduction method: Continue reading How to Introduce a queen bee to an Apidea
Quick queen bee introduction – Paper Bag Method
Introducing a new queen can be a tedious, long-winded process. Here’s a good quick method of introducing her 1 hour after removing the old one. No seven day gap, no removing of queen cells, no stressed bees. Yes, it works – I’ve tried it.
Here’s what to do: Continue reading Quick queen bee introduction – Paper Bag Method
Cloake Board Method of Queen Rearing
A Cloake board is an essential piece of kit for anyone considering rearing their own queens. The method utilises a queen-right colony ensuring the best quality queens. Continue reading Cloake Board Method of Queen Rearing
Irish Queen Bees for Sale
Sorry – sold out for 2015
Native Irish queen bees for sale (Apis mellifera mellifera) – ready now.
Selected for good temperament, productivity and low-swarming. Click here for more about JanesBees
Contact Jane info@beespoke.info
Click here for more about the Native Irish Bee
Click here for Bee Improvement
Click here for Colony Assessment
Click here for Colony Appraisal
How to set up your Jenter Kit
Here’s how to set up your Jenter kit. It’s how I did mine and that’s now working well.
By the way, be warned – the bees won’t like it when it’s new and the queen will be reluctant to lay into it. So get it set up and into a strong colony to get it drawn out and smelling beeish before you trot the queen into it. Continue reading How to set up your Jenter Kit
What to do with queenless Apideas
An annual quandry for beekeepers is – what to do with all those queenless Apideas at the end of the queen-rearing season.
Most advice is to set the Apidea over a nuc and unite the two but this often comes to one sort of sticky end or another and is less viable when you have a number of them.
Here’s a neat alternative: Continue reading What to do with queenless Apideas